Brits Admit Posting ‘Sick Selfies’ For Sympathy

Brits Admit Posting ‘Sick Selfies’ For Sympathy

Brits admit they post ‘sicky selfies’ – to get sympathy from friends, family and colleagues.

Researchers who carried out a detailed study found one in ten adults consider days spent in bed as an ideal time to take sympathy shots and post them on social media – rising to two in five among the 18-24-year-old age group.

Worryingly, 40 per cent of ‘sicknotes’ said ‘attention’ was their biggest reason for posting pics of themselves while unwell.

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It also emerged, nearly one in ten of the 1,000 adults polled admitted to taking and sending a ‘sicky selfie’ to their boss to ‘prove’ they were ill.

The revelation emerged following a study carried out by Ultra Chloraseptic throat spray.

Nearly half of those who took part admitted they’d used a cough, cold or sore throat to avoid attending social events and a further 13 per cent said they wished they had – but kept up appearances anyway.

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It was also revealed weekend dinner or drinks (44 per cent), work events (29 per cent), a friend’s birthday (26 per cent) and a family party (24 per cent) were the top events missed by those dodging the social draft.

Yet most said they answered the call of duty – or even went above and beyond.

The study also found 72 per cent went into work as normal when suffering sore throats and colds, with one in ten working from home and 40 per cent admitting they’d been told by colleagues they should leave the office when unwell.

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GP, Dr Paul Stillman says:

Sore throats affect all of us and they have a real impact on all aspects of our life. Treating them fast is vital and opting for a tablet will not provide fast action.

It goes straight to the source of pain and numbs in just seconds, which is a great comfort when we need to eat or sleep, get ourselves into work or want to go to meet friends.

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Just 13 per cent took the doctor’s orders and a needed day-off from work and on average, Brits think sore-throat sufferers should put up and soldier on for more than five days before seeing their GP.

Despite this, 50 per cent said the pain felt like swallowing razor blades – one quarter said they had no energy and one fifth said it felt like their throat was wrapped in barbed wire.

It emerged how on average, people suffer roughly two bouts of sore throat each year – with sore throats being the second most uncomfortable, and common, health concern after headaches and migraines.

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The pain of swallowing was unsurprisingly found to be the nation’s most dreaded aspect of the illness – with the pain enough to keep one in ten unable to sleep at night.

The study also found a cold bowl of ice cream and jelly, or hot soothing liquids like soup, are the easy-to-eat comfort foods of choice.

For respondents, it was then unsurprising they expected over-the-counter remedies to act quickly – one quarter wanted relief within two to three minutes.

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But lozenges leave a bad taste in the mouth, with half saying they can make their mouths completely numb, while a third worried about the need to keep taking them to keep pain at bay.

Meanwhile, 33 per cent were concerned about the sugar content in the sweet treatment.

Francesca Donovan

A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you've never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.